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1 HERPETOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Vol. 15, pp (2005) SIZE-FECUNDITY RELATIONSHIPS AND REPRODUCTIVE INVESTMENT IN FEMALE FROGS IN THE PANTANAL, SOUTH-WESTERN BRAZIL CYNTHIA P. A. PRADO¹,2 AND CÉLIO F. B. HADDAD² ¹Departamento de Biologia/CCBS, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil ²Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil The ovarian complement of anurans exhibiting different reproductive modes is highly diverse, and intraspecific variation in reproductive output of anurans is generally related to variation in female properties and/or environmental conditions. The size-fecundity relationships, reproductive investment, and correlation between ovary mass and fat body mass were investigated for females of an anuran assemblage in the Pantanal, Brazil. Female body size was positively correlated with clutch size among seven of the eight species analyzed. However, these results seem to be influenced by seasonal variation in fecundity. Interspecific size-fecundity relationships revealed that female SVL was positively correlated with clutch size and egg size regardless of reproductive mode. Among 11 species analyzed, the reproductive investment (RI: ovary mass relative to body mass) varied from 5.5 to 18%, and there were no differences among reproductive modes and activity patterns (explosive / prolonged). RI correlated negatively with female size. Among three Leptodactylus species examined, negative correlation between ovary mass and fat body mass was verified for two species. Variations in the reproductive strategies are closely related to the reproductive activity patterns and reproductive modes exhibited by individual species, but are also influenced by environmental conditions. However, regardless of reproductive mode or activity pattern, each species seems to exhibit a reproductive strategy that allows them to respond differently to the same environmental restrictions. Key words: anurans, clutch size, fat body mass, reproductive investment INTRODUCTION As life history traits affect organism reproduction and survivorship, most of the interest in studying life history evolution comes from the different possible combinations of these traits which affect fitness (Stearns, 1992). Tropical anuran species exhibit a great diversity of reproductive patterns (Duellman & Trueb, 1986). The ovarian complement of anurans with different modes of reproduction is highly diverse (Salthe & Duellman, 1973). Generally, large species produce more eggs than smaller ones, and species that exhibit the generalized reproductive mode produce larger clutches than those with specialized modes. Furthermore, within a given reproductive mode there is a positive correlation between female body size and clutch size, and a negative correlation between clutch size and ovum size (Duellman, 1989). Information on size-fecundity relationships for anurans has been published by Salthe & Duellman (1973), Crump (1974), and more recently, by Lang (1995) and Perotti (1997). Reproductive investment also called reproductive effort has been defined as the proportion of resources available to an organism of certain age, which is invested in reproduction during a defined period of time (Gadgil & Bossert, 1970). However, it is much easier to define than to measure such investment, and the most common Correspondence: C. P. A. Prado, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Caixa Postal 199, , Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil. method used consists of establishing proportions as gonad mass relative to body mass or clutch volume relative to body volume (e.g. Crump, 1974; Lemckert & Shine, 1993; Perotti, 1997). In female frogs, which devote a great amount of energy into egg production, interspecific variation in reproductive investment is related to reproductive mode (Ryan, 1992). While intraspecific variation in reproductive output of anurans may be related to variation in female properties and environmental conditions (e.g. Berven, 1988; Lüddecke, 2002). However, comparative studies on reproductive investment and fecundity are scarce for Neotropical frogs inhabiting the seasonal Chaco- Pantanal domain (e.g. Perotti, 1997; Prado et al., 2000). The size-fecundity relationships and reproductive investment (RI) of female frogs from a Neotropical assemblage in the Pantanal, south-western Brazil, are herein described. As this region is markedly seasonal with a long dry period, main predictions tested in the present study were: (1) that RI will be greater in explosive breeders compared to prolonged breeders regardless of reproductive mode; and (2) that females of prolonged breeders will produce larger clutches in the wet season compared to the dry season. Regardless of reproductive mode, clutch size correlates negatively with egg size in anurans (e.g. Crump, 1974). Consequently, we expect little variation in RI among species exhibiting different reproductive modes. Furthermore, individual variation in ovary mass and fat body mass was also investigated for three Leptodactylus species.

2 182 C. P. A. PRADO AND C. F. B. HADDAD STUDY SITE MATERIALS AND METHODS The Pantanal is a sedimentary floodplain located in south-western Brazil, with an area of approximately 140,000 km² between the paralells S and W. The study was conducted in the municipality of Corumbá, MS, at the Pantanal Research Station, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (19 34'S 'W). Climate is markedly seasonal ( Aw type in Köppen s classification), with wet summers from October to April and dry winters from May to September. Rainfall concentrates from November to January, with an annual mean of 1215 mm at the study site, between 1995 and For the same period, mean annual temperature was 25.1 ºC, varying from 15.8 ºC (June 1996) to 29.5 ºC (January 1998). The topography is plain, formed mostly by hydromorphic soils, causing drainage problems, that partially explains its tendency for periodic and prolonged floods (Por, 1995), which are common in the region from January to April. The region is characterized by open formations included in the Cerrado domain (savanna-like vegetation). STUDIED FROG ASSEMBLAGE The anuran assemblage at the study site is composed by 24 frog species belonging to four families: Bufonidae, Hylidae, Leptodactylidae, and Microhylidae, and the reproductive activity concentrates in the rainy season (November-January; Prado et al., 2005). Herein we present data for 16 anuran species belonging to three families (Table 1), with three continuous breeders (Hyla nana, Lysapsus limellus, and Leptodactylus podicipinus), seven prolonged breeders, reproducing for more than three consecutive months, and six explosive breeders. Five reproductive modes occur among the frog species, with the majority exhibiting the generalized aquatic mode, with eggs deposited in lentic water bodies and exotrophic aquatic tadpoles (Prado et al., 2005; Table 1). Terrestrial modes are exhibited by Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis, which deposits eggs in leaves above water and tadpoles develop in lentic water, Leptodactylus fuscus and Adenomera cf. diptyx, which deposit eggs in foam nests in terrestrial subterranean chambers and tadpoles are carried to the pond subsequent to flooding. FIELD WORK Data were collected monthly between January 1996 and December Additional data were collected in the rainy season (October-March) in the years 1995, 2001 and Clutches were collected in the field whenever possible, but most clutches were obtained from amplexed pairs or estimated based on number and size of mature ovarian eggs from gravid females caught in the field. Eggs of each clutch were counted (= clutch size) and individual egg diameter from different clutches was measured to the nearest 0.1 mm with an ocular micrometer in a Zeiss stereomicroscope. Snout-vent length (SVL) of individuals was measured with a caliper ruler to the nearest 0.1 mm. Body, mature ovaries, and ovarian fat bodies were measured on electronic balances to the nearest g for the larger species, and g for the smaller ones, after being blotted to remove ex- TABLE 1. Reproductive modes, reproductive activity patterns, and reproductive period for 16 anuran species in the south Pantanal (source Prado et al., 2005). Reproductive modes: (1) eggs and exotrophic tadpoles in lentic water; (8) foam nest and exotrophic tadpoles in lentic water; (18) eggs on leaves above water; exotrophic tadpoles in lentic water; (21) foam nest in subterranean chamber; exotrophic tadpoles in lentic water (Duellman and Trueb, 1986); (3) eggs and early larval stages in foam nests in waterfilled basins constructed by males; exotrophic tadpoles in lentic water (Prado et al., 2002). Family/species Mode Reproductive pattern Reproductive period HYLIDAE Hyla nana 1 continuous Jan-Dec H. raniceps 1 prolonged Sep-Apr Lysapsus limellus 1 continuous Jan-Dec Phrynohyas venulosa 1 explosive Oct-Jan Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis 18 prolonged Sep-Mar Pseudis paradoxa 1 prolonged Oct-May Scinax acuminatus 1 explosive Oct-Mar S. fuscomarginatus 1 prolonged Jan-May LEPTODACTYLIDAE Adenomera cf. diptyx 21 prolonged Oct-Mar Leptodactylus chaquensis 8 explosive Oct-Mar L. fuscus 21 prolonged Sep-Mar L. podicipinus 3 continuous Jan-Dec Physalaemus albonotatus 8 prolonged Oct-Apr Pseudopaludicola cf. falcipes 1 explosive Nov-Mar MICROHYLIDAE Chiasmocleis mehelyi 1 explosive Nov Elachistocleis cf. bicolor 1 explosive Sep-Mar

6 186 C. P. A. PRADO AND C. F. B. HADDAD FIG. 5. Correlation between log ovary mass and fat body mass in females of Leptodactylus chaquensis (squares), L. fuscus (circles), and L. podicipinus (triangles) in the Pantanal, Brazil. W=28.0; P=0.49). Females of L. podicipinus produced a mean of 2272±464 (range = ; n=9) ovarian eggs in the wet season and a mean of 1766±393 (range= ; n=8) in the dry season. For L. podicipinus, ovarian egg production in the wet and dry season differed signicantly (t=2.4; P=0.01). A significant negative relationship between ovary mass and fat body mass was verified for the explosive breeder L. chaquensis (Spearman rank correlation: r s =- 0.74; P< 0.05; n=50; Fig. 5) and for the prolonged breeder L. fuscus (r s = -0.69; P<0.05;n=21; Fig. 5). For the continuous breeder L. podicipinus, there was no significant correlation between ovary mass and fat body mass (r s = -0.16; P>0.05; n=27; Fig. 5). DISCUSSION SIZE-FECUNDITY RELATIONSHIPS Although female size correlated positively with clutch size in most species (7/8; Table 3), body size explained between 25% (H. raniceps and L. limellus) and 65% (L. podicipinus) of the variation in clutch size. Female size is positively correlated with fecundity in many species of frogs (e.g. Berven 1988; Lemckert & Shine, 1993; Lüddecke, 2002), but egg production may exhibit considerable variation among females in a single population (e.g. Berven 1988; Lemckert & Shine, 1993). Besides size, other factors may influence female fecundity, as environmental conditions and female nutritional state (e.g. Ryser, 1988, 1989; Lemckert & Shine, 1993). In prolonged or continuous breeding species, egg production may also differ if measured at different times (e.g. early, mid, or late season) during the breeding season (e.g. Praderio & Robinson, 1990; Giaretta & Kokubum, 2004). Variation in the regression coefficients in the present study could be related to the fact that, for most species, samples included females and clutches collected in different years, or different seasons (dry/rainy) in the cases of the prolonged and continuous breeders. In the present study, neither SVL nor body mass correlated with clutch size in L. fuscus, but in another population studied in northern Brazil (Martins, 1988) SVL and number of ovarian eggs were positively correlated. An explanation could be that for the population in the Pantanal, females collected in different reproductive seasons were analyzed together and in the study conducted in northern Brazil, only females from a single reproductive episode were analyzed. But such differences could also be due to multi clutching, or related to population differences, or even it is possible that more than one species are being currently identified under the name L. fuscus (Wynn & Heyer, 2001). Our results on variation in fecundity of L. podicipinus and H. nana support seasonal predictions (described above). Females of L. podicipinus, a continuous breeder at the study site, produced less ovarian eggs in the dry season compared to the rainy season. Analyzing all available females and clutches of L. podicipinus, neither SVL nor body mass correlated significantly with clutch size. But when females were analyzed separately by seasons (dry/rainy), both SVL and body mass were highly correlated with clutch size. In contrast, the other continuous breeder, H. nana, did not exhibit differences in egg production between the dry and rainy season at the study site. When all females from all seasons were analyzed, body size was positively correlated with clutch size. Although both species are continuous breeders, our results suggest that they exhibit different responses to environmental changes. As for L. podicipinus in the present study, variation in egg production between dry and rainy seasons was also reported for another continuous breeder in the Pantanal, L. limellus (Prado & Uetanabaro, 2000). Such variation was also observed for Colostethus trinitatus in a seasonal region in Venezuela (Praderio & Robinson, 1990), and the authors suggested that prey availability may diminish during the dry season affecting female nutritional state. This explanation could be applied for L. podicipinus, or, as noted by Crump (1974), it is possible that females regulate egg production according to climatic conditions. Considering the reproductive modes in amphibians, from the most generalized aquatic to the most terrestrial modes, number of eggs deposited tends to decrease while egg size increases (Salthe & Duellman, 1973; Crump, 1974; Duellman & Trueb, 1986). Such a negative correlation was verified in many studies on reproductive modes in anurans (e.g. Crump & Kaplan, 1979; Hödl, 1990; Perotti, 1997). Although only three terrestrial modes were analyzed herein, such tendency was also observed. The species P. hypochondrialis, which deposits eggs on leaves above water, and Adenomera cf. diptyx and L. fuscus, which deposit eggs in foam nests in subterranean chambers, displayed smaller clutches and larger eggs compared to species exhibiting aquatic modes (aquatic eggs and aquatic foam nests). Two species that exhibit aquatic foam

7 SIZE-FECUNDITY RELATIONSHIPS IN FROGS 187 nests, L. podicipinus and P. albonotatus, had relatively larger clutches compared to other species. Perotti (1997) compared the ovary size factor (Duellman & Crump, 1974), a method to measure fecundity which takes into account egg size, among species in different families and different reproductive modes in the Chaco, Argentina. Two leptodactylid species present in the Chaco L. chaquensis and Physalaemus biligonigerus that also deposit eggs in foam nests on the water, also had higher values of fecundity compared to other species (Perotti, 1997). It would be necessary to have data on other species with aquatic foam nests to test whether such larger clutches are phylogenetic determined or a common trait associated to this reproductive mode. Interspecific analysis showed that female SVL was positively correlated with clutch size in the present study, as registered before for other frog assemblages (e.g. Crump, 1974; Lang, 1995). However, considering intra- and interspecific analysis, body mass and mature ovary mass showed a much stronger correlation. Regarding size-fecundity relationships, in comparison to SVL, body volume or mass give a more accurate measure of the size of the frog s internal cavity and more clearly defines the ovarian capacity of anurans (e.g. Crump, 1974; Lang, 1995; Prado et al., 2000). Our results support previous studies cited above, with body mass explaining more variation in clutch size compared to SVL. Egg size and body size were not significantly correlated in a study conducted by Lang (1995). However, Lang (1995) tested the correlation with stream-breeding hylid frogs, which exhibited low egg size variation. All the stream-breeding species had relative large eggs, probably related to the water current of these habitats, which could explain the lack of correlation. When analysing species with different reproductive modes, depositing eggs at different habitat types, egg size correlates positively with body size (Perotti, 1997; present study). This fact may probably be related with many different selective pressures leading to differences in egg sizes. REPRODUCTIVE INVESTMENT Reproductive investment (RI), measured as percentage of ovary mass relative to body mass, varied from 5.5 to 18% among frog species in the present study. However, the RI did not differ significantly among the three categories of reproductive modes tested, neither between prolonged and explosive breeders. Percentage of clutch volume relative to body volume was examined for 23 species in different families and with different reproductive modes at Santa Cecilia, Ecuador (Crump, 1974). Similar to values observed for the frogs in the present study, relative clutch size at Santa Cecilia varied from 3.1 to 18.2%, the smallest value being that of the largest species, Bufo marinus, and largest percentage being that of the small treefrog Hyla cruentomma. Crump (1974) found an inverse relationship between the reproductive investment and body size, and so did Perotti (1997), in Argentina. Such inverse relationship was also observed for the frog species in the present study. This negative trend indicates that as body size increases, proportionately less of the body size is accounted for by the ovary size, or less is invested in gonads. Crump (1974) suggested that probably this results from the fact that large species have a proportionately larger amount of supportive tissue. The frog L. chaquensis invested more in gonads than expected, and L. fuscus and P. paradoxa much less. Ecological differences among these species mainly regarding reproductive activity patterns and number of clutches a female can deposit during a single reproductive period may explain such differences. Many studies showed that individual females can produce more than one clutch per reproductive season (e.g. Perrill, 1983; Lemckert & Shine, 1993). Based on presence of immature ovarian eggs in nearly every gravid female, Crump (1974) suggested that females breed repeatedly throughout the year in the Neotropics. Such situation was also observed for all the species in the present study (C. P. A. Prado, pers. obs.), and it is also suggested that females of all studied species may produce more than a clutch per season. But the number of clutches a female can produce may be under the control of environmental conditions as well as the species reproductive activity pattern. In contrast to other explosive breeders in the Pantanal that breed many times during the rainy season (Prado et al., 2005), L. chaquensis is an explosive breeder that only breeds during the first heavy rains in the rainy season (Prado et al., 2000), a condition that is rare at the study site. As a consequence, females of this species may not have the opportunity to lay many clutches during a single breeding season, which could lead to a high reproductive investment. In contrast, L. fuscus and P. paradoxa are prolonged breeders that reproduce continuously for more than six consecutive months at the study site. Females of these species may lay many small clutches during a single season, which would explain the extremely low investment in gonads. SEASONAL CHANGES IN FAT BODY MASS IN LEPTODACTYLUS In amphibians and reptiles fat is stored in special organs, the fat bodies, located anterior to the gonads, and their sizes are good indicators of the nutritional state of the organism (Jorgensen, 1992). Three Leptodactylus species exhibited differences regarding patterns of fat deposition in the present study, indirectly indicated by the correlation between fat body mass and ovary mass. For L. chaquensis and L. fuscus, fat body mass correlated negatively with ovary mass, i.e. females with ovaries containing eggs exhibited smaller fat bodies. However, for L. podicipinus, fat body mass was not correlated with ovary mass. In temperate regions, fat bodies in anurans are primarily known to serve as nutritional reserves, mainly during hibernation (Saidapur & Hoque, 1996). However, involvement of fat bodies in game-

8 188 C. P. A. PRADO AND C. F. B. HADDAD togenesis has been reported for many species both in temperate (e.g. Long, 1987) and in tropical regions (e.g. Pancharatna & Saidapur, 1985; Saidapur & Hoque, 1996). An inverse relationship between fat body size and ovary size was reported for the temperate frog Acris crepitans (Long, 1987) and for the tropical frog Rana cyanophlyctis (Pancharatna & Saidapur, 1985), suggesting that lipids are used for vitellogenesis, as for L. chaquensis and L. fuscus in the present study. For L. podicipinus, fat body mass did not correlate negatively with ovary mass. In a study with Bufo woodhousei (Long, 1987), it was observed that although fat body size did not correlate negatively to ovary mass, lipid reserves were mobilized for egg production, and such a situation could be the case for L. podicipinus in the present study. Differences in fat deposition patterns among the Leptodactylus species may be due to ecological differences in reproduction. While L. chaquensis an explosive breeder and L. fuscus a prolonged breeder only reproduce in the rainy season, L. podicipinus reproduces throughout the year, which could explain the lower variation in lipid reserves throughout the year. The Pantanal is included in the Cerrado-Caatinga- Chaco domain (Duellman, 1999), which is characterized by a subhumid to semiarid climate, high temperatures, and low rainfall, that falls mainly in a short rainy season. The climate is markedly seasonal in the Pantanal, with a defined wet period with unpredictable rains and a long dry season (Por, 1995). Floods are common in the region, but the exact period and intensity of floods may vary from year to year. Results herein described for the frog assemblage in the Pantanal suggest that variations in reproductive traits as variation in egg production, pattern of fat deposition, and reproductive investment although influenced by reproductive activity patterns and modes of reproduction, seem to be strongly influenced by environmental conditions. However, the most important conclusion is that, regardless of reproductive mode or activity pattern, each species seems to exhibit a unique reproductive strategy which allows them to respond differently to the same environmental restrictions. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank J. P. Pombal Jr. and M. Martins for the valuable suggestions on the manuscript, E. A. Pedroso, E. Pereira, E. Q. Gomes, M. Uetanabaro, and P. Landgref Filho for field assistance, and L. F. Toledo for the help with the figures. This study was made possible by the logistical support of Base de Estudos do Pantanal Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul. C. P. A. Prado acknowledges CNPq for financial support (proc /97 3/NV) and graduate fellowships (procs /97 7, /2000 0), and FAPESP for postdoc fellowship (proc. 04/ ). C. F. B. Haddad acklowledges CNPq and Biota FAPESP (proc. 01/ ) for financial support conceded to the Laboratory of Herpetology, Department of Zoology, I. B., UNESP, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil. REFERENCES Berven, K. A. (1988). Factors affecting variation in reproductive traits within a population of wood frogs (Rana sylvatica). Copeia 1988, Crump, M. L. (1974). Reproductive strategies in a tropical anuran community. Miscellaneous Publication of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 61, Crump, M. L. & Kaplan, R. H. (1979). Clutch energy partitioning of tropical tree frogs (Hylidae). Copeia 1979, Duellman, W. E. (1989). Alternative life-history styles in anuran amphibians: evolutionary and ecological implications. In Alternative life-history styles of animals, Bruton, M. N. (Ed.). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Duellman, W. E. (1999). Distribution patterns of amphibians in South America. In Patterns of distribution of amphibians: a global perspective, Duellman, W. E. (Ed.). Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Duellman, W. E. & Crump, M. L. (1974). Speciation in frogs of the Hyla parviceps group in the upper Amazon Basin. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History University of Kansas 23, Duellman, W. E. & Trueb, L. (1986). Biology of Amphibians. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gadgil, M. & Bossert, W. H. (1970). Life historical consequences of natural selection. The American Naturalist 104, Giaretta, A. A. & Kokubum, M. N. C. (2004). Reproductive ecology of Leptodactylus furnarius Sazima & Bokermann, 1978, a frog that lays eggs in underground chambers (Anura: Leptodactylidae). Herpetozoa 16, Hödl, W. (1990). Reproductive diversity in Amazonian lowland frogs. Fortschritte der Zoologie 38, Jorgensen, C. B. (1992). Growth and reproduction. In Environmental Physiology of the Amphibians, Feder, M. E. and Burggren, W. W. (Eds.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. King, R. B. (2000). Analyzing the relationship between clutch size and female body size in reptiles. Journal of Herpetology 34, Lang, C. (1995). Size-fecundity relationships among stream-breeding hylid frogs. Herpetological Natural History 3, Lemckert, F. L. & Shine, R. (1993). Costs of reproduction in a population of the frog Crinia signifera (Anura: Myobatrachidae) from Southeastern Australia. Journal of Herpetology 27, Long, D. R. (1987). A comparison of energy substrates and reproductive patterns of two anurans, Acris crepitans and Bufo woodhousei. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 87A, Lüddecke, H. (2002). Variation and trade-off in reproductive output of the Andean frog Hyla labialis. Oecologia 130,

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